Operation Spider Web Snags Cocaine, Meth, and Weapons; Fifteen Indicted on Related Drug Trafficking and Firearms Crimes

In the past 24 hours, federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), have concluded search and arrest actions in Cobb County and today (January 20), with the United States Attorney’s Office, announce that 15 individuals have been indicted for alleged drug trafficking and firearms-related crimes stemming from the large-scale investigation, code-named Operation Spider Web.

United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said of the takedown and the case, “The U.S. Attorney's office targets the largest drug trafficking organizations in the district, so that we can reduce the drug trafficking and violence not only in the state of Georgia but the other parts of the country that these organizations touch. Operation Spider Web involves 15 defendants who are alleged to have distributed cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana using tire stores as fronts, and tires as drug packaging. The takedown of this case has a direct impact on the community to make Atlanta safer, with less drugs and fewer guns on the streets.”

“Georgia residents can sleep better tonight knowing that an organized criminal ring has been hit,” said Brock Nicholson, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Office overseeing Georgia and the Carolinas. “This case demonstrates yet again how law enforcement in Atlanta is committed to working together to disrupt and dismantle criminal networks.”

Rodney G. Benson, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Field Division said, “DEA and its law enforcement counterparts orchestrated a well-planned and coordinated assault against a high-level, poly-drug distribution network. Because of the unified effort between DEA and its law enforcement counterparts, this organization will no longer be able to wreak havoc on our community.”

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Special Agent in Charge, Gregory K. Gant said, “The mission of ATF is unwavering—we fight violent crime by investigating and prosecuting those who criminally use firearms that cause immeasurable damage to our communities. Today's enforcement activity is a perfect example of the law enforcement community working together to remove these violent criminals from its streets.”

Cobb County Sheriff Neil Warren, on behalf of the Marietta-Cobb-Smyrna Organized Crime Intelligence Task Force (MCS), said, “We often work in conjunction with other local, state and federal agencies in order to maximize our resources in combating illegal activity in our community. These cooperative efforts, especially in the metro area, are especially effective in letting the criminal element know we are all serious about protecting and serving the citizens in our jurisdictions. Job well done.”

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges, and other information presented in court: In May 2009, federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies began investigating a drug trafficking organization operating in the metro-Atlanta area and elsewhere. The organization allegedly coordinated the receipt and distribution of cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana throughout Atlanta and elsewhere, using firearms in furtherance of its illegal activities. The indictment alleges that members of the organization hid, transported, and stored illegal drugs and drug money inside of tires that were then either placed on or inside drug delivery vehicles.

As part of today's takedown, agents searched two tires shops, “Alex Tires and Rims” in Marietta, Georgia, and “Emmy Tires” in Griffin, Georgia. Both tire shops were allegedly operated by SANTIAGO VILLANUEVA PINEDA. Agents also executed three search warrants, including at the tire businesses used by the criminal organization as fronts for its illegal activities. Today’s takedown ensnared 13 defendants, with the arrest of eight additional individuals on state drug charges or for immigration offenses. Items seized during the takedown included 22 guns, several kilograms of cocaine and methamphetamine, a meth lab, over $30,000 in cash, and several vehicles. Those seizures supplement the approximately $1,000,000, 75 kilograms of cocaine, over 11 pounds of methamphetamine, 16 firearms, and two grenade hulls already seized in the investigation.

Earlier this week, a federal grand jury returned a 10-count indictment related to “Operation Spider Web,” which was unsealed today with the arrests. The indictment charges the defendants with various criminal offenses including conspiring to traffic over five kilograms of cocaine, over 100 kilograms of marijuana, and over 500 grams of methamphetamine; substantive drug trafficking charges; and possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes:

SANTIAGO VILLANUEVA PINEDA, a/k/a “Alex,” 36, of Marietta, Georgia;
RAMIRO ALVARADO GONZALEZ, a/k/a “Mori,” a/k/a “Moreno,” 25, of Marietta, Georgia;
JAMES TORRES, a/k/a “El Gordo,” 28, of Marietta, Georgia;
TARSICIO BRAVO-CARBAJAL, a/k/a “Chicho,” a/k/a “Chucho,” 53, of Marietta, Georgia;
BERNALDO MOLINA-CARDENAS, a/k/a “Berna,” 49, of Marietta, Georgia;
ELEAZAR AGUIRRE RIVERA, 27, of Cartersville, Georgia;
JUVENTINO BAZA, 43, of Marietta, Georgia;
PABLO GARCIA, a/k/a “Enrique Farias,” 34, of Cartersville, Georgia;
WILBER AVALOS PEREZ, 36, of Smyrna, Georgia;
JOSE CARLOS SOTO-PINEDA, a/k/a “Pedro Mendoza,” 29, of Sandy Springs, Georgia;
JOSE PATINO-CHAVEZ, a/k/a “Markos Jaimes,” 38, of Marietta, Georgia;
ISAIAS MONDRAGON, a/k/a “Fat Boy,” 30, of Powder Springs, Georgia;
NARCISO FLORES-ORTIZ, a/k/a “Chicho,” 33, of Smyrna, Georgia;
GREGORY EARL HARRISON, 40, of Marietta, Georgia; and
CHADWICK HUDSPETH, 41, of Atlanta, Georgia.

Members of the public are reminded that the indictment contains only allegations. A defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove a defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

The investigation and prosecution of this case is a coordinated effort through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, which is comprised of special agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI); the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI); the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); and the Marietta-Cobb-Smyrna Organized Crime Intelligence Task Force (MCS), which is comprised of officers from Cobb County Sheriff's Office, Cobb County Police Department, Marietta Police Department, Smyrna Police Department, Kennesaw Police Department, Acworth Police Department, and Powder Springs Police Department, along with the Cobb County District Attorney's Office.

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ICE and DOJ Sign Agreements to Share Information on Drug Trafficking and Organized Crime

/PRNewswire/ -- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) signed two Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2009, to foster increased communication between participating agencies at the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Fusion Center and the International Organized Crime Intelligence and Operations Center (IOC-2).

"The OCDETF Fusion Center and IOC-2 are founded on the principle that we can accomplish more together than we can separately," said Deputy Attorney General David W. Ogden. "By bringing together the agencies and personnel with existing resources and expertise we can work more effectively as partners to shut down organized crime networks, seize assets and save taxpayer dollars in the process. This agreement, coupled with recent agreements between ICE, DEA and ATF will allow new levels of cooperation and intelligence sharing."

"These additional agreements we've signed with our Department of Justice law enforcement partners help us all better combat the worst criminal offenders," said Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for ICE John Morton. "By combining our resources, we expect to stop more drug smugglers and organized crime across the country."

By becoming an active participant in the OCDETF Fusion Center as outlined in one MOU, ICE will be adding more than 25 million records, including reports of investigation, wiretap intercept information and financial investigative material, from its drug-related investigations and drug-related financial investigations to the Fusion Center. ICE will also gain access to the additional agency information available through the Fusion Center. This increased partnership will further help in the joint fight against drug trafficking organizations by all of the other Fusion Center agencies, including the FBI, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

The ability of all participating Fusion Center agencies to develop target profiles and actionable investigative leads to disrupt and dismantle significant drug traffickers is enhanced by the increase of information collected at the Fusion Center. In addition to sharing in one collection of information, coordinating with the Fusion Center allows participating law enforcement agencies to "de-conflict" their investigations. De-confliction ensures that two or more agencies are not duplicating resources or that one agency's investigation will not have a negative impact on another agency's investigation.

DOJ and ICE also signed an MOU regarding ICE participation in the newly-created IOC-2, which marshals the resources and information of nine U.S. law enforcement agencies, as well as federal prosecutors, to collectively combat the threats posed by international criminal organizations to domestic safety and security. It allows partner agencies to join together in a task force setting, combine data and produce actionable leads for investigators and prosecutors working nationwide to combat international organized crime, and to coordinate the resulting multi-jurisdictional investigations and prosecutions. ICE's new membership in IOC-2 will allow all the partner agencies to draw on data that now ICE will provide, while allowing ICE to work investigations with other agencies that may be targeting the same syndicates.

These latest MOUs follow closely on the heels of two additional agreements DEA and ATF, respectively, signed recently with ICE. Together, these agreements show a significant level of partnership and cooperation within the federal law enforcement agencies to target major criminal organizations.

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Numerous Arrests & Search Warrants Executed Simultaneously in Atlanta Area and McAllen, Texas in Takedown of Major Drug Organization

Federal, state and local agents have completed initial searches and arrests in a multi-jurisdictional, multi-agency investigation coordinated through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program targeting a major Mexican drug trafficking organization (DTO) operating in Mexico; the McAllen, Texas area of the Rio Grande Valley; and the metropolitan Atlanta area. The organization and its members allegedly smuggled large quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana into the United States for distribution in Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, and Illinois and elsewhere. Some of the weapons seized in the case were displayed at a news conference in Atlanta yesterday morning, after the indictment and other documents were unsealed.

United States Attorney David E. Nahmias said, “The coordinated action taken against this drug organization today is an important part of our fight against drug cartels who are using the metro Atlanta area as a base of operations. The takedown required planning and cooperation among a large number of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies and literally hundreds of officers, all with one purpose: to disrupt and dismantle a dangerous organization that distributed huge amounts of illegal drugs across our nation.”

FBI Special Agent In Charge Greg Jones said, “Today's arrests were the culmination of an 18-month-long Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation involving many federal, state, and local agencies, who worked together to disrupt a major cell of a Mexican cartel, a notoriously violent drug trafficking organization, and took a major step towards eradicating a significant threat to our economic and national security. Today's efforts are a clear example of what can be accomplished by the metro Atlanta law enforcement community when we work together toward a common threat.”

IRS-Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Reginael McDaniel said, “The indictments handed down in this investigation are another testament to what can be accomplished when all levels of law enforcement work together. As we take down these criminal organizations one after another, hopefully one day we can say Atlanta is no longer a repository for drug dealers.”

During the year-long investigation, agents have seized approximately 581 kilograms of cocaine, approximately 219 pounds of methamphetamine, and approximately $3.5 million in currency.

The investigation is code-named “Operation Grand Finale.” Operation Grand Finale was initiated in February 2008 and was led by the David G. Wilhelm Atlanta OCDETF Strike Force. Operation Grand Finale has been designated as an OCDETF case, which recognizes the highest priority narcotics cases for Federal investigation and prosecution.

To date, Operation Grand Finale has resulted in federal charges against 16 defendants and the execution of three search warrants and two seizure warrants. This morning, law enforcement officials said that 15 defendants are in custody—two of them in McAllen, Texas, one in Tennessee, and a dozen in the Atlanta area. Of the 12 arrested here, two are expected to face state charges, and the other ten are expected to make an initial appearance before a United States Magistrate Judge sometime this week. One defendant is a fugitive, and an additional defendant not previously charged was arrested today.

According to the search warrant affidavits, these investigative efforts have determined that the targeted organization regularly transported large quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana from Mexico to Atlanta, and then transported currency accumulated from the sale of the illegal drugs back from Atlanta to McAllen, Texas to be smuggled across the Southwest border to the organization’s leaders in Mexico.

The 16 defendants indicted by a federal grand jury in Atlanta on April 8, 2009, are:

MARTINA CASAS FLORES, a/k/a "Tina Flores," a/k/a "Mom;" FNU LNU (first name unknown/last name unknown) # 1, a/k/a "Ojos," a/k/a "Carlos," a/k/a "Cesar;" BELISARIO GIL MENDOZA, a/k/a "Cachoritto;" MARTIN ARREOLA-ROMERO, a/k/a "Sergio Placensia;" GERALD EDWARD DURRANCE; JUAN MANUEL MENDOZA, a/k/a "Ramon Aguilar Torres," a/k/a "Jose," a/k/a "Tio;" FNU LNU # 2, a/k/a "Cokis;" ANGEL LUIS AYALA, a/k/a "Maneques;" JUAN MANUEL ACOSTA, a/k/a "UM64;" RAPHAEL PEDROZA PEREZ, a/k/a "Tocayo;" FNU LNU # 3, a/k/a "Sancudin," a/k/a "UM1820;" ALFONSO RIOS, JR.; OTHA BARNES; JORGE LUCATERO-TORRES; OBIEL PINEDA-PARDO, a/k/a "Alejandro Castro", a/k/a "Beto," a/k/a "Cocho," ; and RAMIRO HERNANDEZ-DUQUE, a/k/a "Tartu".

These cases are being investigated by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the David G. Wilhelm Atlanta OCDETF Strike Force.

The Strike Force team utilized agents and officers from the FBI, DEA, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, United States Marshal’s Service, Fayette County Sheriff's Office, Doraville Police Department, Georgia State Patrol, Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Georgia Department of Corrections, DeKalb County Police Department, and Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles. The Strike Force is named in honor of U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Assistant Special Agent in Charge David G. Wilhelm, who was murdered in Atlanta in March 2005.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Atlanta recommends parents and children learn about the dangers of drugs at the following web site: www.justthinktwice.com.

Assistant United States Attorneys Bret R. Williams and Phyllis Clerk are prosecuting the Operation Grand Finale case.

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